Temple University is an institution with over 30,000 students. More than 7,500 of those students live on or around campus. Scattered across campus are Temple’s seven residence halls, with another on the way. As the enrollment at Temple continues to rise, so does the number of students living in these buildings. However, they don’t live there freely.
These residence halls are staffed by resident assistants. These are student workers who live alongside the residents, serving as area leaders to keep things running smoothly. They can be seen providing support, mediating roommate conflicts, and/or making sure their residents are safe. But with so many responsibilities, some RAs, like senior Alec Achen, say that their job has been too taxing.
“People have really sacrificed a lot for this job, whether it’s just the amount of sleep that comes with being on duty and things like that,” said Achen. “But also just like I’ve heard stories of personal relationships being lost over the intensity of this job.”
While the benefits of free housing and single rooms come with the role, RAs have argued that it’s not enough anymore for the treatment they face. The solution to this? Unionizing. Starting last year, a group of RAs came together after seeing examples of RA unions at other colleges, such as the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.
“We got people to sign a petition to send to the state to basically say, ‘Hey, we want a union,’” said Achen. “After a little bit of back and forth with Temple and the state, we got an election scheduled.”
After months of voting and negotiations, they won their election and are officially recognized by the state of Pennsylvania and Temple. Now, the union is in the process of bargaining, meaning they are outlining the terms for next year’s contract.
“Having a union means we basically have democracy in our workplace,” said Achen. “We’re making sure we establish those and have a say over what those policies and procedures are.”
For other RAs, like senior Kamil Rozanski, fair pay is at the top of their priority list when it comes to what they want the union to achieve now that they’re established.
“I think a lot of people’s issues were just not getting paid fairly and also expectations that were above and beyond what the role was like,” said Rozanski. “A lot of stuff we would have to do for the university for free, and it wasn’t really included in our contract.”
And while the future looks bright for the contract, Rozanski still worries about a potential future where things fall through.
“I think I’m hopeful, but I’m still hesitant to see what’s going to happen,” said Rozanski. “It really just depends on engagement and making sure people keep this going, and it doesn’t phase out.”
While both Rozanski and Achen will be graduating after this year, they are looking forward to a better future for RAs with a fairer contract. Both of them say that it feels like a gift that they are passing down to the next generation of RAs.